Chapter 4: Ours?

Zak's POV

Watching Tori interacting with his parents feels both warm yet off. Almost as if Tori himself was slowly pulling away from his family, a slight frown now on my face as I secretly watch him from a distance.

‘Keep your eyes on him’ whispers Ash, as if he too was sensing the same thing I was.

‘I always do’ I move to say back to him.

‘You might always watch him from a far, but something feels off with him today. Almost as if he’ll bolt at any given moment’ replies Ash, almost as if he was on edge.

‘Relax. I promise you; Jake and Alex are also watching him. If anything happens Jake will be the first one to respond. For encase you haven’t noticed, Jake has taken it upon himself to be closer to him’ I admit, a little jealous that Alex and I had yet to find our mate yet granted neither did Jake.

But it was the principle of the fact that we were now 20 and had yet to find them. And thus because of it, it was becoming frustrating.

Glancing to Tori, I begin to feel a sense of ease begin to wash over me. A calmness that only Tori could bring to me as he continues to sit with his parents. His voice cheerful given the fact there’s only six of us here to celebrate his birthday like always.

My eyes still focused on Tori even as he moves to open his presents. The first present being from Jake. The present small yet meaningful. Curious, I move to watch as he moves to open the present.

“What did Jake get you sweetheart?” asks Layla to her son as she moves to sit on Austins lap. My blue eyes still watching Tori as he opens the box.

Excited for Jakes present, Tori is quick to open it. His amber eyes with tiny specks of orange now sparkling as he moves to reveal a beautiful crystal pendant.

“Whoa... it’s beautiful Jake, thank you” whispers Tori, a small smile still upon his lips which makes my insides melt. Something about Tori secretly calling to me that only he could.

“I hoped that you would like it” answers Jake with a smile of his own, something else shining deep within his dual color eyes.

“Like? I love it” exclaims Tori as he moves to slip it on. The pendant resting just between his chest plate, just below his collarbone. A spot made perfectly for marking, a thought that instantly crosses my mind.

“Good, because it’s also enchanted. That way when you shift forms from wolf to human it’ll expand accordingly” admits Jake, as if proud of his gift.

At the mention of his wolf does Tori try to remain happy a subtle shift in the air allowing me to spot it almost instantly. Odd. Remaining focused on Tori, I move to keep my blue eyes locked on him and only him.

He doesn’t seem happy about his wolf, I think, my eyes now searching for a clock. My eyes now seeing it read 6:45 pm which meant we now celebrated for about 4 hours and not once did he mention his wolf. Having arrived at 3 in the afternoon, I now realize that nobody has even bothered to ask him if his wolf appeared yet or not.

Wondering if I should be the one to ask him, I choose to wait a little while longer. Tori already moving onto the next gift before him. Mine. Having given him a leather-bound journal, I figured he could use it to write down his feelings and inspirations as they came.

Unwrapping the gift, Tori instantly becomes happy for my gift as well. A smile rising along my lips as he does. “Do you like it?” I ask, curious to know.

“I love it. Thank you, Zak.”

“Anytime little one” I move to say back to him, a light blush now making its way along his cheeks as he moves to look away.

‘Did you see that?’ I moved to ask Ash, curious to see if he noticed it as well.

‘I did. And if I’m being honest, Vox might be right. Tori might be ours’ answers Ash, which instantly catches my attention.

‘Ours?’

‘Yes. Vox thinks that Tori belongs to us. To you, Jake and Alex. It’s one of the reasons why neither of you have managed to find your mates yet’

Shocked yet surprised by his words, my thoughts begin to wonder. Could Tori truly be ours? Would the Moon Goddess really be that generous as to bestow us Tori for a mate? Puzzled, I moved to ask him one more question.

‘But... He’s only 14. Surely, he won’t know who his mate is until he’s 18, right?’ I ask Ash, curious.

‘Correct. Until Tori is 18, we won’t know for sure. Yet with how special Tori is, it’ll be a lot harder to know without his scent. But there will be other factors that’ll help us when that time come's’ answers Ash.

‘Great... Another 4 years of this’ I groan, a little miffed that we had to still wait for Tori to officially turn 18 before we could properly find out. Not that waiting for Tori would be an issue because Tori was everything we could ever want in a mate. The only question was, would it be Tori against us, Jake, Alex and I or will it be Tori against the world.

Sighing, I fail to see Tori open the remaining parts of his presents, too focused on Ash to truly pay any attention to my given surroundings.

“So, Tori... Has your wolf finally come yet?” asks Alex his voice gentle when around Tori. Yet with anyone else his tone was either harsh or clipped as if he couldn’t be bothered by you.

“No...” whispers Tori, almost sadly as his eyes now fall to his lap which seems to make my heart clench painfully for him, almost as if I could sense Tori’s pain as my own.

“Are you sure? Your wolf could just be late” replies Austin to his son.

“I’m positive dad, no wolf. Just like I told mom earlier” grunts Tori, his small frame now moving to stand up. “Look, I got to go. Thanks for coming over you guys, you all rock.”

Then without another word Tori moved to leave the room, his parents suddenly shocked by his quick response. “T-Tori... WAIT” cries Layla to her son as she watches him leave the room.

'Follow him, don’t let him leave’ urges Ash, my feet already leading me in the direction of Tori, Jake and Alex both hot on my tail, concerned about our Gamma who seemed like he was in distress over his wolf not appearing.

“He’s fast for someone without a wolf” replies Alex, the three of us not too far behind Tori even as he moves to exit the house, his body now standing just under the moonlight as he moves to look up silently.

“You guys didn’t have to follow me out here. I’m fine” replies Tori, his back still to his friends as he continued to stand there.

“We know, but we wanted to” admits Jake.

“Why?” asks Tori.

“Because your ours. And we worry about you that’s why” I move to say causing Tori to freeze.

“Ours?” questions Tori, as if he heard wrong.

“Ya, ours. Our friend, Our Gamma” I quickly move to tell him once Jake gives me a look as if we couldn’t say mate until we knew for sure and that wouldn’t be until he turned 18.

“Oh” whispers Tori, almost disappointedly.

“Nice going” whispers Jake to me before moving to approach Tori before speaking.

“Tori, please don’t worry okay. Just because your wolf didn’t show up now doesn’t mean we’ll stop hanging out with you anyway less. It just means that your wolf is a late bloomer, that’s all. Give it time, it’ll come to you, I promise.”

“Promise?”

“Yep, I promise. And I always keep my promises.”

Weighing his words, Tori moves to nod his head, “Thanks Jake. I needed that.”

“Always little one, always.”

And with that said, the four of us continued to hang out in the backyard of Tori’s home like we always did until it was eventually time for us to head home as tomorrow began our rigorous training.